Company Retreat
by Mysterious Magoo
Summary: It's 1970, Tony and Doug have since been returned to their time and the Time Tunnel has been functioning properly for over a year. The staff of Project Tic-Toc takes part in a company retreat to a far less civilized era.
1. Prologue

Prolouge

05:00am

General Kirk walked down the long corridor to the control room at Project Tic-Toc.

General!" cried Dr. Swain, directing his attention.

"Hello, Raymond. Is everything ready?"

"It took longer than expected to assemble, but it's ready."

"Good, good. Let's see it."

Dr. Raymond Swain led General Kirk to the command center and the Time Tunnel itself which now had a Chinook helicopter within it.

"We had a devil of a time getting it down here," Dr. Swain explained in the otherwise empty room. "Apparently the boys should have paid more attention while taking it apart…"

"So long as it's altogether now," General Kirk reassured him. "Sure you won't come along? It's not too late."

Dr. Swain sighed, "I'm afraid it's a little too late for this old lab boy to join the field team."

General Kirk nodded, and they heard the sound of footsteps as Dr. Ann McGregor came in.

"Hello, all!" She greeted them and sat down at her work station. "The boys are trickling in, better get ready."

General Kirk checked his watch, "You're right, I'd best get changed." He excused himself and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

10,000 feet below the desert, in one of several lockerooms within Project Tic-Toc, roughly a dozen men were changing from their street clothes into khakis and military boots.

"What are these, World War I surplus?" one man groaned, trying to walk in his ill-fitting boots.

"Korea, actually," came the matter-of-fact answer from Doug Phillips.

"Ready for your first trip, Jerry?" Tony Newman asked Jerry, a technician.

"Hm? Oh. Yes, very much," answered Jerry unconvincingly. It was plain to see he was nervous with anticipation.


	2. All Aboard

All Aboard

"Well, is that Allan Quatermain?" Ann joked at General Kirk's change of attire. He was dressed like an old-time big-game hunter, complete with knee boots and fedora.

"Now, now, that's enough of that." The General said, embarrassed. "Besides, you should see 'Jungle Jim' back there," He said, motioning over his shoulder. Ann and Raymond looked behind him to a shaggy-haired man in his late twenties wearing full safari gear, with a large pack, a rifle over his shoulder, Colt .45 on his hip, and a double-barreled shotgun slung over his back.

"Are you sure you've got enough firepower, Jim?"

"You know me, just an overgrown Boy Scout," he answered, smiling. Jim had joined the project a year earlier, and had already accompanied on several trips.

"He's a bright boy," General Kirk said to Ray and Ann as Jim boarded the helicopter in the tunnel, "Solved the Ripper case." Doctor Swain nodded; being able to witness history firsthand was an invaluable tool to historians and had also been applied to criminal investigations. Jim had proven himself a capable and worthwhile asset to the project.

"Ready whenever you are, General!" An unseen voice called out gleefully.

Their heads turned in unison, Tony Newman stood at the front of the assembly waiting to start the journey. Each man was attired in khaki with a large field pack and rifle.

"All right, I'd like to say a few words first." The general straightened up and addressed the group, "This will be the first trip for some of you, and there are a few things you should keep in mind. This isn't just a weekend in the woods… don't wander off from the group, dispose of any garbage or waste in the proper fashion; don't just throw it on the ground. Don't drink the water or handle the plantlife with your bare hands. Also… don't get trigger happy, only take a shot when it has been approved or in defense of yourself or others."

With that, he turned and led the collection of veteran time travelers, technicians, scientists, and security personnel up to the immense double-bladed helicopter within the Time Tunnel. Doug was bringing up the rear when he felt a delicate hand stop him.

"Doug…" Ann had taken him by the arm, "Be careful, will you?" There was the familiar look of concern in her eyes, much like when he first went into the tunnel to save Tony two years earlier.

"You know I will," he whispered back. He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder and went back to rejoin the group. Ann sighed and quietly returned to her work station beside Ray.

Everyone strapped in as Doctors Raymond Swain and Ann Macgregor initiated the countdown. Doug joined Jim in the cockpit, and donned a helmet, "just in case" he said. The lights of the tunnel came on; the smoke and explosions followed, and the Chinook shook slightly from the force and disappeared from sight.

The helicopter and its crew passed through the kaleidoscopic haze and reached their destination upright with only a minor thud; but that was enough to shake up one of the more delicate passengers.

"I… I'm gonna-" Jerry yelped holding his hand over his mouth.

Tony, sitting next to him, quickly snatched the boonie hat off Jerry's head and thrust it into his hands, "Here!"

Jim unstrapped himself and made his way to the opening rear hatch of the vehicle, stuck his head out and took a quick look around before waving everyone else forward. The men exited cautiously and looked about their new surroundings curiously.

"Gentleman," General Kirk declared, "Welcome to Montana… 70 Million B.C."


	3. Into The Lost World

Into the Lost World

The party mingled outside the Chinook and looked about, hoping to spot a dinosaur. The helicopter was placed exactly where it was intended, on the edge of a thick forest; protection from large predators it was reasoned. In the opposite direction was an open grassless area with a few sparse trees leading to a winding creek approximately two hundred yards away. The first order of business was to string out layers of barbed wire between the trees to deter any smaller predators that could slip through the woods. As well as set up a higher chain-link fence topped with barbed wire to cordon off the helicopter and the surrounding area from the water, a suspected watering hole. A single gate in the fence seven feet high was the only way in or out.

"It's so hot," Jerry exclaimed, wiping his forehead, worn out from making camp.

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity," Doug explained, more composed. "Millions of years ago Montana was much further south. This is the middle of a prehistoric summer."

"Oh, this isn't so bad," sounded in Jiggs, an elder MP Sergeant. "I was fighting Rommel in North Africa during the war; over 100 degrees daily, your clothes would stick like a second skin." He lit his pipe and looked thoughtfully in the direction of the water.

"I wore the same wool suit day in and day out for the better part of a year," Doug added, smiling fondly. "Jungles, deserts, snow-covered mountains…"

Satisfied with the base camp, General Kirk strolled up to the gaggle, and slapped his hands together twice. "All right men! Straighten your backs, and put on your packs."

The group fetched their packs and rifles and assembled into a single-file formation. Tony and Doug led the procession into the woods, being more familiar with a prehistoric environment. General Kirk followed them immediately, with Jim shadowing him, followed by Jerry and nine other first-timers. Jiggs brought up the rear, making sure no one wandered off.

All eyes were peeled, giant dragonflies a foot long buzzed through the thick canopy overhead. Tony was distracted by these monarchs of the air when he heard a crunch under his foot.

"Ah, boy…" he let out a disdained utterance as he looked under his boot; he had wandered into a small nest of eggs, partially covered by dirt, and smashed two. The column came to a halt as Tony took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the small remains off his boot. Two of the men took pictures of the scene, and Jim squatted down for a closer look.

"They're bipedal," he said, examining the remains. "Might be a small carnivore or…" Jim noticed everyone had suddenly fallen silent and looked over his shoulder to see why. A five foot tall bipedal dinosaur had crept right up on them, flaring its nostrils and baring its sharp, curved teeth; no doubt the upset parent. It snarled and was on Tony in half a second. Tony defensively rolled onto his stomach as he hit the ground and pulled in his legs while the beast clawed at his backpack in a mad fury. Doug positioned his gun to fire, but the twisting of the two denied a clear shot. Jim rushed into the fray with Bowie knife in hand, and leapt onto the back of the attacker, knocking it to the ground, and promptly stabbed it deep in the side. The creature collapsed lifelessly in defeat.

"Thanks, I owe you one," said Tony, collecting himself.

"Anytime," Jim answered.

"Are you all right?" Doug asked, concerned.

"I think so," Tony said. His pants were ripped up and he had some cuts on his legs. Doug retrieved a roll of gauze from his pack and attended to the wounds.

"You're a lucky man," said General Kirk, looking at the stilled carnivore and then again at Tony.

Tony looked up at him skeptically, "Do dinosaurs jump on lucky men?"

In the meantime, the others' attention turned to the prehistoric casualty. It was about nine feet long, with a reddish-brown hide, long snout, a hooked talon on its foot, and three fingers on each hand.

"Dein… Deinonychus," Jerry shared, comparing it to an example in a reference book.

"A fair specimen," General Kirk observed, joining them. "Did anyone notice if it was carrying its tail or dragging it?"

No one could honestly remember one way or the other, and with the scent of blood in the air, the group gladly returned to basecamp early so Tony could get off his feet and the new specimen could be put on ice.


	4. Sightseeing

Sightseeing

"Well, that could have gone worse," Ray commented from the command room, having witnessed the altercation with the deinochyus. Ann mopped the perspiration from her face; it wasn't supposed to be another one of _those _trips.

"That was too close."

Ray noticed her concern, "They're survivors, Ann. You know that."

"I know. I just can't stand sitting by here watching helplessly."

"Maybe you should have sat this one out."

Ann shook her head, "No. I couldn't trust anyone else at the controls."

Meanwhile, in 75 Million B.C., evening had come and in the safety of their basecamp, the men were fixing a supper of franks and beans over an open flame. Tony, not letting the events of the day distress him, strummed on an old guitar and the men broke out with the old campfire songs.

"How do you think that lizard would cook?" a senior programmer joked.

"You leave that lizard alone, Davis." General Kirk answered, smiling. "It's got a place waiting for it in the archives."

"That's a shame, I was hoping to have its head in my rec room," Jim quipped, "It'd make one humdinger of a conversation piece."

They laughed at the thought. Despite the prize addition it would make to any museum, the secrecy of the project couldn't be so blatantly compromised.

Off to the side, Doug heard a rustling noise and looked up from his plate of beans, "It looks like we have visitors… and they're carrying their tails!" Every head turned to an extended family group of massive duck-billed lambeosaurus, which were casually walking by the camp enroute to the creek. Each of the adults was over forty feet long, and they all bore oddly shaped crests upon their heads. The expedition rose and ran to the fence for a closer look. Noticing all this attention, one of the lambeosaurs lazily turned and looked at the humans curiously, and let out a deep gurgled noise in their direction, but expressed no mutual interest in them, and kept moving.

"Only shoot with your cameras," General Kirk told them.

Jerry flipped through the reference book; the pictured lambeosaur was standing erect, whereas the ones before them walked hunched forward with their tails straight out. Jerry read aloud, "Lambe... Lambeosaurus. Discovered by Barnum Brown in Alberta, Canada; skeletons also recovered in Montana, and as far south as Mexico…" He stopped, finding he was talking exclusively to himself.

"Permission to step outside?" asked Charlie Whitebird, their resident expert on the history of the plains Indians.

"Be careful," General Kirk conceded, "and keep your distance."

The men followed the lumbering giants to the creek, keeping back a safe distance. The lambeosaurs reached the water and dipped their mouths in, taking in their share. Everyone remained silent; on the other side of the creek, silhouetted by the setting sun they could make out the outline of an armored ankylosaur wandering off, slowly swinging its clubbed tail in either direction.

"This is what it's all about," Doug said of the scene. Tony nodded in agreement.

"I'll bet the kids would love this, huh Charlie?" Jim chuckled.

The Sioux scholar smiled, "They would for a fact."

They stayed outside the fence for over half an hour, until after the dinosaurs had left and the sun was too low for safety. Straggling back in, the expedition called it a night.

Coffee, bacon, and eggs were the order of the morning, and a hearty meal was had in preparation for the new day while the men made idle chatter.

"What do you think we'll see today?"

"I'm hoping for triceratops."

"A brontosaur, that's what I want."

The time had come for the helicopter to serve its purpose; the men boarded the Chinook and spread out, taking their seats along the sides, Jim and Doug strapped into the pilot and copilot's seats respectively and prepared for takeoff. The twin rotors hummed to life, and the behemoth transport slowly rose from the ground. There was a slight jerking on liftoff and Doug questioned Jim's ability.

"Just where did you learn to fly one of these?"

"I used to deliver supplies in the service… it's been a few years."

Rising more steadily over the trees, the landscape unfolded. The creek stretched out as far as the eye could see, the tree-covered forest below hiding its inhabitants, and the rolling mountainous terrain on the horizon. The passengers twisted around in their seats to see out the windows to their backs. The vehicle rose to several hundred feet off the ground and cruised forward at a casual rate.

"Anything on your side?" Jerry yelled across to Tony.

"No, nothing yet," Tony yelled back.

Jerry squinted, holding his hand over his eyes as a shield from the morning sun. No one had seen anything new that morning, and the "what's next" mentality was setting in. After several minutes, his vigilance was rewarded.

"There they are! Brontosaurs! Two of them!"

All eyes turned to the portside; two enormous brontosauri were feeding from a section of trees below. The helicopter turned and made a wide circle around the scene.

"Doug! Jim!" General Kirk talked to them through a headset radio, "Hold her steady and drop the loading ramp, we're going to see if we can get some film."

In speedy compliance, the ramp lowered and General Kirk himself took a 16mm handheld movie camera and filmed the giant behemoths feeding from the rear of the hovering chopper, leaning out to a considerable degree with one hand grasping an overhead strap and Jiggs taking hold of his belt for good measure.

Watching from the command room, Ann managed to crack a smile, "He's having the time of his life."

Ray nodded, "Nearly twenty years away from the field… this is what he needed."

Ann yawned, making the best attempt to muffle it, and excused herself.

"Ann," Ray coaxed, "It's all right, take a breather."

Ann agreeably rose from their workstation, "Thanks, this time I'm not going to argue with you."


	5. The Duel

The Duel

Three o'clock in the afternoon, and after several hours of aerial sightseeing the helicopter and her crew were cruising back to camp. Doug sat drowsily with his eyes shut, they were two or three minutes from being back on the ground, and Jim wasn't likely to need assistance. Doug was only thinking how good it would feel to be back on the ground and stretch out again when a pummeling force suddenly hit them, causing the chopper to shudder momentarily.

"What's going on?!" he asked, alarmed.

"I don't know," Jim replied, "It's as if we were being…" he grabbed the radio, "Ray? Ann? What was that?"

Back in 1970, Ray took hold of the desktop microphone, "A flying dinosaur of some kind has just grazed your hull."

Jim paused, letting it sink in. "Pterosaur?"

General Kirk had made his way up to the cockpit, and listened in intently.

"Yes, that's right. He's following you at your 4 o'clock low."

Doug looked down to his right; sure enough, a pteradon with a wingspan of over forty feet was keeping pace and eyeing the helicopter with a strangely determined look.

"We must have wandered into his territory… pick up speed, we'll lose him."

"Too close to camp to lose him, we could lead him on a chase," Jim suggested.

"Do it, I'll alert the crew," said Kirk, excusing himself.

Doug glanced at the speed, "40 knots? Better pick up the pace."

"We could take him out," Jim thought aloud, referring to the Chinook's three mounted machine guns. "If he gets caught in those rotors…"

Doug paused in thought, before he could answer the pterosaur buzzed the cockpit in a burst of energy, missing the glass by inches, and rattled the pilots. Doug bit his lip and answered, "Let's take him."

The chopper began to push forward and arched in a circle, putting some distance between the two. The winged beast fought its way after them in dogged pursuit.

"Persistent cuss, isn't he?" Jim mused, as the chopper turned to face their aggressor directly.

With the pterosaur flying at them head-on, the .308 guns opened fire on the beast, which quickly disappeared below out of sight.

"Did we get him?"

"I don't know"

"Think we scared him off?"

Doug glanced over in Jim's direction, and his eyes widened in silent terror. Before he had a chance to open his mouth to warn him of the approaching danger, the pterosaur's beak smashed through the pilot side window covering Jim in glass. The talons scratched vainly at the outside of the fuselage, and it twisted its stuck head around violently through the shattered window, snapping its three-foot beak at the two pilots. Jim was pinned against the seat, unable to reach the controls and taking the brunt of the beast's flack. From his seat, Doug reached across and wrestled the revolver out of Jim's holster, took quick aim, and fired three rounds at the pterosaur's body. The creature slowed, and slunk back, wounded. Doug hastily unstrapped himself and kicked the wedged animal repeatedly until it came loose from the vehicle. The limp creature dropped from sight, and Doug took over the controls from the still dazed pilot.

Watching, Ray exhaled in relief. He looked at the vacant chair next to him, and was thankful Ann wasn't there to see another close call. Despite all the improvements made to the Time Tunnel, a safe extraction through the tunnel with the helicopter in motion would have been next to impossible.

Jim, gathering himself asked, "Did you get him?"

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine," Jim answered, brushing the pieces of glass off him.

"What the devil just happened?" Came a stern, albeit concerned voice from behind. The pilot and copilot turned to see General Kirk, none too pleased.

"It attacked, sir," Jim answered. "We got him."

"General, I suggest you take your seat for landing," Doug advised.

Kirk turned in compliance, muttering, "Scoutmaster at my age…" as he took the nearest seat.

They were over the campsite and Doug was preparing for a landing. Thinking of how he had reluctantly agreed to come along on this outing, which he considered ill advised, what he saw on the ground only reinforced that opinion.

"As if we didn't have enough trouble."

A trail of destruction cut through their camp, with half of the chain link fence fallen onto the ground in separate sections and trampled tables and chairs scattered in disarray. The culprits were still in sight, wandering off into the horizon.

"Looks like our two friends from this morning," Jim said dryly, noting the two brontosaurs they observed feeding earlier.

The radio buzzed the moment they set down on terra firma, and Doug received Ray from the other end, who asked beleaguered, "Are you ready to come back now?"


	6. The King Cometh

The King Cometh

"Are you ready to come back?" Ray asked again.

Doug considered overstepping his bounds and speaking for the group, but thought better of it. "That's up to the General, it's his safari." He waved Kirk over and handed him the receiver.

"The men don't seem too discouraged, they've been looking forward to this trip for months, but I'll ask." Kirk set down the receiver and approached the men, already at work resetting the fence, he cleared his throat until he had everyone's attention.

"In light of the unforeseen events of today… If anyone wants to go home now, they're welcome to; no one will think any less of them."

Every man looked out of the corners of his eyes to the others, none spoke.

A proud little smile curled at the corner of Kirk's mouth, "All right, as you were."

The men resumed attending the fence. With several of the men occupied holding it up, Tony had made makeshift repairs to the battered fence using short pieces of rope to hold the separate sections together; flimsy, but passable for the time being. It would take the staffers back at the project at least a few hours to have new fencing to send back.

"We should have kept a lookout behind, that's for sure," Tony said, standing back, looking at the fence. A couple of support poles were badly bent, and their fence had a crooked lean to it.

"A trench," he said aloud, "a ring around the fence, three feet deep and about four feet wide."

"Not a bad idea," General Kirk agreed. "A little late now, but… next time."

"Next time?" Tony asked.

Kirk nodded affirmatively. "You live. You learn. You do things a little differently the next time."

Elsewhere within the camp, a sweating Jim removed his jacket, and dropped it to the ground.

"Jim, you've got blood on you," Davis informed him, pointing at his collar.

Jim strained to see the spot, which still had some blood from the pterosaur attack already drying on it. "You're right," he took a peek down his shirt, "good thing it's not mine." Casually picking his jacket off the ground, he found substantially more blood on the lower left side that he had failed to notice (as did everyone else). Letting out a sigh of frustration, he bundled it up and went to attend his washing on the other side of the camp.

Outside the fence, Tony and General Kirk were surveying the surrounding area, estimating the time and manpower required to dig a trench.

"Machinery would be the most efficient way," Kirk said, with his arms folded. "Maybe bring in a steam shovel."

Tony didn't answer, the air suddenly felt cooler, curiously, he turned around and looking skyward, the cause became apparent. Tyrannosaurus Rex, the king of the dinosaurs was standing over them, blocking out the sun. It stood as tall as a double-decker bus and he could see its knife-like teeth badly stained from meals past. Miraculously, despite its bulk, it had managed to creep up on them unnoticed.

"Back away slowly," Kirk said quietly as he started to do the same.

They stepped back cautiously; the other members of the group saw the T-rex and had already moved toward the relative safety of helicopter. The beast looked down on Tony and Kirk curiously as well as hungrily, and followed at their own pace, one step at a time and never more than a quick snap of the jaws away.

Sweating with fear, they finally reached the gate, and Tony began to push the twisted, creaky thing open. Watching with rifle in hand from the rear of the helicopter, Charlie Whitehorse watched as the Rex made a small facial twitch, and recognizing the motion, fired a quick, desperate shot as the Tyrannosaurus lunged at the two men.

The rushed shot struck the Tyrannosaur near the top of the skull, and it drew its head back, releasing a monstrous howl in a mix of pain and anger.

Swinging open the door wide open and running like the devil was after them, Tony and General Kirk made it into camp.

"Must have a thick skull," Charlie thought to himself, and fired again, with Jiggs joining him to provide cover fire.

The rex lashed angrily and swinging its tail, collapsed the broken down chain link fence.

The t-rex stomped into the camp with a deafening roar. Jiggs waved Tony and Kirk into the helicopter, and both the scholar and the staff sergeant followed after without looking back. From the cockpit of the chinook, Jim turned on the engines, and the rotors began to spin.

General Kirk looked about, "Is everyone here?" He took a quick head count.

"Jerry! Where's Jerry?"

In the initial excitement, Jerry had dove for cover underneath the helicopter and the only other one sure of his whereabouts was the T-rex.

With dust flying all around, the tyrannosaur circled the helicopter, curiously aware of the rotors, and keeping below them, it eyed Jerry underneath. The predator moved forward, keeping low. With its head near the ground it moved in for a better look and Jerry squirmed backward. The T-rex chomped at the air in his direction and tried to move in closer.

It had inched close enough for Jerry to see those huge stained teeth in detail, and smell its foul breath. Drenched in a cold sweat, he felt around on the ground for anything he could use, scooping up a handful of stones, he threw them at the tyrannosaur's face in desperation.

The rex pulled back instinctively, and momentarily losing its balance, the front rotor clipped off a small piece of meat at the top of its shoulder.

The Tyrannosaurus fell backward, stumbling awkwardly, and before anything else could happen, it disappeared into nothingness before Jerry's eyes. Far more relieved than curious, he crawled out and ran to rejoin the rest of the group in the helicopter.

"We thought you were a goner there…" said Doug, slapping him on the back.

As everyone was happy to be safe and sound, General Kirk answered the buzzing radio.

"General, I think it's high time you called it a day," Came Ray's voice.

Wiping his brow, General Kirk answered him, "I'm inclined to agree with you."


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

After returning to 1970, an explanation for the vanishing Tyrannosaur was provided.

"It took a lot less time to lock down the T-rex's signature than it would to get the whole group," Ray explained, "so I simply removed it from its current moment in time. The only trouble is… I lost track of it."

"You lost a dinosaur?" asked General Kirk.

Ray shrugged, "That's about the size of it."

Kirk smiled thoughtfully, "Don't worry; I have a good idea where to start looking."

A few hours later, Ann made an announcement, "I think we have it. The Congo, 1932."

Ray, General Kirk, and Ann looked into the monitor, and sure enough, on the plains of Africa a battered tyrannosaurus was chewing over the carcass of a rhinoceros.

"Kasai Rex, I never would have believed it." General Kirk said, impressed.

"I don't understand," said Ann.

"A Swedish plantation owner and his servant claimed to have seen a large dinosaur eating a rhinoceros on a short hunting trip in 1932. The newspapers at the time printed a badly faked photograph of a "giant lizard" with the story that made everyone assume the whole incident was a hoax."

"Until now," declared Ray.

Meanwhile on the monitor, coming through tall grass, a European man dressed for hunting and his native servant came across the spectacle. As they watched, the hunter promptly fainted and his guide bent over to attend to him. The Tyrannosaur continued eating, undisturbed.

"Well, time to send it back," Kirk said.

Smiling, Ann locked down on the T-rex, and in a few moments with clockwork precision, sent it back to its own era.

"Well," said General Kirk, clasping his hands together, "all's well that ends well." He excused himself, and Ray and Ann soon followed, going back to their homes until the next time.

The End


End file.
